Eurotrash Swirl
March 22, 2010
Sequel to the 2004 original, “District 13: Ultimatum” is the latest from the prolific writer and producer Luc Besson, who cranks out high-gloss Eurotrash action pictures with admirable efficiency. Set in the near-future slums of Paris, the film concerns the infamous District 13, a slum so dangerous the cops have walled it off and surrendered authority to the locals.
Things get complicated when corrupt officials decide D-13 should be leveled entirely. And so honorable cop Damien Tomaso (Cyril Raffaelli) and local roughneck Leito (David Belle) must once again team up to save D-13, fight the cops and the drug lords, and basically run like crazy in highly choreographed chase scenes.
“District” dutifully delivers all the requisite elements of the modern urban action flick, only everybody’s yelling in French. You’ve got your car chases, your jailbreaks, your elevator shaft and airduct escapes. Your black SUVs and multiracial henchmen with unfortunate tattoos. Your drug kingpins with designer clothes, and your club kids with designer drugs.
Subtitled in English, the movie demonstrates that dumb dialogue is dumb dialogue in any language. Scenes are peppered with the French equivalents of “We’ve got company!” and the old car chase stand by – “Hold on!” (Seriously, once you start noticing this, it will drive you crazy. In 90 percent of movie car chases, I’d estimate, the driver will downshift with grim resolve and advise his passenger to “Hold on!” It must be mandated in the screenwriter bylaws somewhere.)
Anyhoo, the well-tailored villains dispatch assorted goons to eliminate Damien and Leito in a series of fight scenes across Paris.
Movies of this sort are growing increasingly indistinguishable from video games. Mow down the hirelings, fight the boss, grab the loot, or clue, or whatever. Rinse and repeat.
The only things to really recommend with “District 13: Ultimatum” are the chase sequences, which incorporate the art of parkour, or free running. You might remember this from the opening sequence of the James Bond reboot “Casino Royale.” A kind of extreme sport crossed with martial arts, it involves running full tilt through urban environments – jumping, rolling dodging and weaving with amazing agility.
Director Patrick Alessandrin, working from producer Besson’s script, films these chases skillfully, using extended takes and a moving camera so that you can see and appreciate the athleticism and stunt work involved. This is a welcome trend, actually, as audiences are beginning to tire of CGI effects and heavily edited action scenes where there is no sense of real human movement.
Unfortunately, to get to the parkour scenes you have to suffer through the rest of the movie, with its dopey plot, humorless tough-guy dialogue and casual extreme violence. Perhaps I’m getting old, but I’m so very, very tired of watching people get shot in movies.
My suggestion: Make some popcorn, search YouTube for some parkour compilations, and stay home instead.
